


Argentina's Shining Star

by SanIker_59



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Drabble, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, One Shot, Paulo being a cutie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-03-06 02:15:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13401309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SanIker_59/pseuds/SanIker_59
Summary: Paulo comes to a realization about Lionel Messi. Lionel is oblivious but not so much he can't realize Paulo acting differently than usual.This is kind of a weird pairing but inspiration struck so here we are.





	Argentina's Shining Star

It’s been a long qualification process. So very long and Paulo is exhausted from it all. Exhausted from the pressure and the weight of an entire countries hopes resting on his and his teammates shoulders but then again, Leo looks just as tired as Paulo feels and he’s been doing this for almost 10 years longer than Paulo. Paulo lets that sink in. Leo has been doing this, dealing with this pain of knowing his home might hate him if something goes wrong in a game, feeling their anger and spite every time Argentina is cut out of a competition. Leo has been there the whole time, fighting and striving for Argentina even when they spat his name in disgust and told him to leave. Paulo thinks this weight might not be so bad is it means he’s helping Leo carry these hopes and dreams he’s been responsible for for the past twelve years. 

After Paulo comes to this realization, he starts to stare at Leo with a kind of admiration Leo isn’t used to. It’s not the look fans give him, as if he’s not real, from a different planet. It’s not the look his teammates given him, pride and excitement in their eyes as they play alongside him. It’s a different look, not bad, just different.

Leo notices the things that follow as well. Paulo treating Leo differently, like he’s trying to aid Leo wherever he can. To Paulo it’s like he’s trying to say thank you for all the sacrifices Leo had made over the years. He offers to let Leo take his plane pillow because he thinks of all the sleepless nights Leo had endured for Argentina. He insists on Leo taking the Swiss chocolate he bought the last time he visited because he thinks about how much Leo loved chocolate and has to be careful about eating it. It’s a small bar, but it’s such a good chocolate you don’t need anymore. Leo looks at Paulo differently too. With Sergio on injury Leo is usually by Mashe’s side, but he entertains the younger man as well. Leo thinks he’s just trying to repay the kindness Paulo has been showing him but Paulo brushes him off. It’s not harsh, for a matter of fact it’s kind. Like the time Paulo was insistent on staying up to watch a movie and Leo volunteered to stay with him. Paulo had smiled but shook his head, telling Leo he needed to get some rest.

“I can take care of myself just fine for a night, you should get some sleep. Training starts early in the morning,” Paulo had reasoned, standing up to hug Leo goodbye before the older man left the room. Leo had laid out on his bed in an otherwise empty room and tried to figure out why the younger man was suddenly showing him so much attention. It seemed genuine, no ulterior motives though Leo wasn’t sure Paulo would be capable of that anyways. He fell asleep with the resolution to try and talk to the Juventus player a bit more, thinking maybe he would be able to figure it out if he had a few more conversations with him.

On the bus ride to the stadium they will be playing and practicing Leo takes it upon himself to sit next to Paulo, nodding towards Masche who raises an eyebrow but doesn’t comment. Paulo looks a bit surprised when he looks up from his phone but smiles at Leo all the same.

“Good morning,” he greets the older man, noting that the dark bags under his eyes had lightened from yesterday, his skin looking flushed but brighter than yesterday.  

“Morning. Did you enjoy your movie?” Leo asks, not paying any mind to the other players filling the bus.

“Yeah! It was really cool but I kind of regret staying up so late. I’ll have to take an extra long siesta today to make up for it,” Paulo laughs, glancing back at his phone for a moment before raising his eyes back to Leo’s. When his eyes do meet Leo’s they widen slightly before he’s turning to the window and grabbing a mug that was pressed between his thigh and the side of the bus. He picks up the mug, turning back and holding it up as Leo realized what it is. “Would you like any?” the boy asks and Leo tries not to laugh at his excited face as Paulo’s smile almost blinds him. Leo reaches out, gingerly grasping the mug from Paulo’s hand and taking a sip of the mate. Swallowing it down, he hands the mug back to Paulo before asking his question.

“Is there a reason you’ve been so different around me recently?” Leo asks and Paulo’s not sure if the older man is aware of how abrupt and blunt his question is because the younger man is slightly taken aback but Leo is just gazing back at him casually. Paulo blinks a few times before his eyebrows furrowed together.

“What do you mean?” he questions, the mug of mate warm in his hand as Leo watches him.

“The last few international breaks you’ve been different. Always trying to make sure I get to sleep early, constantly giving me things,” Leo nods to the mate, “I was just curious as to why.”

Paulo’s face relaxes slightly, understanding what Leo is referring to and that somehow makes Leo more curious as he leans further towards Paulo, awaiting his answer.

“I just wanted to make it up to you,” Paulo confesses, shrugging as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Make what up to me?” Leo questions.

“Everything. I think I just realized how hard it’s been for you the past years with Argentina and I wanted to make sure you knew someone appreciated it. Lots of people do but I know it can get drowned out in everything else. I thought just being a bit kinder might help,” Paulo explains, cheeks flushing just a bit as he tries to explain but it’s a bit difficult when he really tries. But he watches as the confusion on Leo’s face slowly fades away, Paulo’s words finally resting in his mind and making some sort of sense. Leo looks at Paulo, this young man who Leo knows looks up to him, yet somehow had the mind to understand and relate to what Leo had been going through the past years. It made more sense to Leo now, all the little things Paulo had given him or showed up with, every time Paulo would look over Leo’s face with scrutinizing eyes that reminded him of his mother. 

“You know, you’re kind of Argentina’s shining star and I can’t imagine how hard that must be,” Paulo blurts out because Leo has been staring at his face for a while and he’s not sure what exactly that means but he feels the need to break the silence. Leo blinks, caught off guard by Paulo’s words but smiles once he hears them. Leo starts to laugh, or maybe it’s more of a chuckle as he leans back in his seat and looks up at the ceiling of the bus. Paulo reverts to mortification as he realizes what actually he’s said and how Leo is reacting but Leo pulls him from his thoughts as the Barcelona man rests his hand on his thigh, head moving back to look over at Paulo.

“Thank you,” he says, patting Paulo’s leg as he shoots him a smile, hand drifting away as he reaches again for the mug of mate. Paulo lets out a sigh of relief as he smiles at Leo who smiles right back.

Paulo thinks this might be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Leo thinks this might be exactly what he needed all along. 


End file.
